Poisoning my kingdom
by bluedragon25311
Summary: Medieval AU. Oliver's family is the royal family. Oliver is a prince, and a group of assassins are killing people in his kingdom. Can Oliver save his kingdom?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please review. I'd love to hear what you have to say and also any ideas for the plot. Thanks again!**

Oliver walked into his quarters and slammed the heavy wooden door behind him. The room was large and contained many luxurious and suave trimmings but Oliver ignored his surroundings and sat down on the edge of his large bed. He put his head in his hands and sat in silence for a few minutes. The news that his father had been talking about surely must not be good for the kingdom. Oliver didn't know the details but, he hoped that his father would summon him to discuss the matter. Twenty minutes passed as Oliver paced his room. His long black cloak lined with red velvet trailed behind him, it barley touched his ankles but he could feel it behind him as he paced. He was wearing tight black leather pants, a loose cotton shirt and a brown leather vest under the cloak. He was also wearing a belt and his sword was hanging from the belt on his lefthand side.

Suddenly, there were three loud bangs on the door. Oliver rushed towards it and pulled it inwards. There was a knight standing there. He was dressed head to toe in brand new chain mail and he had the queen family crest on his chest. It was a green Q on top of a red background. The knight was a new recruit, he had just moved up from squire. His name was Diggle, at least that is what Oliver thought his name was.

"Prince Oliver, King Robert requires your presence," He said. Oliver nodded and followed the knight out of his quarters. They walked down several corridors that were very familiar to the Prince. But, he didn't notice his favorite paintings, or his favorite tapestry as they walked by. Oliver's mind was solely focused on whatever his father was going to tell him tonight. He strode into the throne room and heard bickering voices.

"Sire, this cannot continue, let me double the guard in the palace, we can draw the guard out of the peasant factions and we can easily have enough guards for the whole castle grounds and one guard for each member of the royal family," Captain Lance, the head of the guard argued.

"We need the peasants to keep working the fields in order to keep us from starving," Oliver heard his father's voice fire back.

"We can afford to lose some peasants in order to keep the Royal family safe!" Captain Lance urged.

"No, why should other people suffer just because they don't have Royal status," A new voice chimed in.

"Harper Squire, silence, no one gave you the right to speak," Captain Lance barked. Oliver strode into the throne room and he could have cut the tension with his sword. Diggle walked to stand next to the Captain and the Squire boy, Harper. Harper was a new face and Oliver wondered what his first name was. Harper had a stocky build but, Oliver wouldn't call him buff, he had stiff brown hair and a stern look on his face. As Oliver observed the room he noticed his mother, Queen Moria was sitting next to his father. she had a concerned look on her face that made Oliver worry.

"Why is the prince here?" The Captain protested.

"Soon he will be learning to rule, he needs to know about this crisis," The King protested. The Captain sighed and relaxed as King Robert began to explain.

"Son, there is a crisis, something that is poising our kingdom, a group of stealthy assassins have been killing members of the royal families in other kingdoms,"

"Is Thomas," Oliver interrupted.

"Yes, Prince Thomas is fine, his kingdom hasn't been hit yet," The King said, reassuring his son that Oliver's best friend was safe.

"Now, these assassins have just recently begun killing off peasants in order to damage our food supply, I have moved some of the guard there to protect them but, Captain Lance disagrees with my decision," The King finished.

"Then what are we doing to fight back?" Oliver asked.

"We can't, we don't know anything about them nor when they will strike next," Lance said, finding his voice again.

"So we just lie and wait, we need to do something!" Argued Oliver.

"We can do something, we can draw the guard out of the peasant factions!" Lance exclaimed.

"And how safe will we be when we are starving," The Queen chimed in.

"I agree and I forbid you to bring the matter up again until the next attack has passed," The King said.

"Yes sire," Lance responded.

"Son do you have any ideas?" King Robert asked.

"No sorry, if I think of anything I will come to you immediately, now I would like to return to my quarters please," Oliver said. The King nodded and Oliver left the room with Diggle following behind him.

"Are you going to follow me everywhere?" Oliver asked.

"Yes Sire, the Queen had me assigned to you," Diggle replied.

"Please it's Oliver," Oliver said. Diggle nodded and soon they reached Oliver's room. Oliver was about to walk inside when he turned to Diggle and asked,

"Could you possibly smuggle an archer's uniform for me?" Oliver asked. Diggle looked surprised but it passed as he said,

"Why would you want that?"

"For personal use, can you do it or do I have to request a guard change?" Oliver urged. Diggle just nodded and Oliver retreated into his room, closing the door behind him. He took of his cloak and hung it next to his bed. After that he took off his vest and fell on top of his soft bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, his head swimming with thoughts of his plans for tomorrow.

When Oliver woke up, he woke with a start. There was a soft glow shining through the window and bird was singing nothing was out of the ordinary. There was not a sign of anything that should have caused him to wake up the way he did. He passed it off as a bad dream and he started to get ready. As he walked across his room he noticed an archer's outfit was sitting on top of his wardrobe and Oliver smiled. That guard had come through after all. Oliver put on his cloak and placed the outfit and his bow and quiver into a wooden box that had a handle on top. He picked the box up and walked along the hallway until he found a servant.

"Tell my father that I am going out today," He told the small messages boy that he a run into. The boy nodded and ran down the hall as Oliver continued to walk outside. He ditched his clothes at the stables and changed into the outfit. It was tight fitting chainmail and the crest of his family was displayed on the front. The only difference were the two arrows that were above and below the crest. He picked up his bow and attached his quiver.

Town was as busy as ever. People were rushing around always on their way to somewhere. A fool was on the corner entertaining some children, a man next to him was selling apples and across from them there was a loud ruckus coming from a pub. Did they know that their lives are in danger? Did my father warn them? Oliver thought as he walked through town with the chainmail pulled tightly around his face.

No one payed him much attention. There were a few other guards milling around and it didn't look like they were doing anything productive. One or two guards nodded to Oliver as he passed but didn't say anything. He even saw a trio of guards stumbling out of the pub across the road. He sighed in disgust at the amazing men that made up his father's army. He grumbled along and tried to remember where the bookkeeping building. There was someone that might know something about the assassins. The building was in between the blacksmith's and the leather tanner.

It was an old building, made of stone and old wood that was chipping away. The windows were too dusty to see inside but, only some blurry movement was visible. Oliver walked inside and was faced with shelves of dusty books. There was a small glow coming from candles around the room. The candles were placed on top of shelves and on the desk in the front. The desk was empty but Oliver heard shuffling in the back of the room.

"Is anyone here? I'm looking for a Felicity," Oliver announced.

"Are you here to shoot me or lock me up because if you are I'll run out of the back entrance right now," A small voice said from behind a stack of books.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk," Oliver said. After a few seconds a small woman walked out. She was blonde and was wearing a long brown dress. She had ink on her hands and a book under her arm. She looked flustered and almost scared then that look changed to surprise.

"You're the prince," She said.

"What that's," Oliver started but she cut him off.

"No, you're Prince Oliver I would bet my life on it," She said.

"Please don't say anything," Oliver urged.

"I won't unless you try to arrest me, then I will yell that the Prince is in here and I'm sure some drunk guards will come and check it out," She joked.

"Yes, I intend to speak to my father about that, but I need some information," Oliver said.

"Ask away Jacob isn't here, he's the owner of this place, so we're completely alone, I mean not alone in that way, I just meant, I'm sorry go ahead and ask your question," Felicity said.

"You're okay, I need to know anything that you've heard about some assassins killing peasants recently," Oliver asked.

"I've only heard rumors," Felicity said.

"I just need anything that you know," Oliver said.

"Well, I know that there is more than one, and that they only attack at night and most of all I know where to find one of their former members but, first I need to find out how you knew to come to me," Felicity said.

"I uh, heard your name from a trusted source maybe you know him, his name is Prince Thomas," Oliver said.

"Yes, him I knew him a while ago, he came by to pick up some records and he got me talking about how I was taught to become literate, and he told me I was smart and then he left, that's it," Felicity said.

"He tells the story a little differently, in a more love at first sight way and how you were totally into him," Oliver said.

"That sounds like him, well shall we go see my assassin friend," Felicity said.

"Yes, we should do you think he will be happy to see you?" Oliver asked.

"I'm not sure if she will be happy to see me," Felicity replied.

"Oh well can we find this she right now?" Oliver asked.

"That depends on if you can sneak us into the palace dungeons," Felicity said.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, and favorited. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and sorry it took me that long to updat hopefully they will be more regular soon, I've just been busy lately. Disclaimer: Unfortunatly I don't own Arrow.**

Oliver returned from town at night, after speaking to Felicity he had bought some bread and spent the rest of the day at a pub thinking of ways to get Felicity into the dungeons. Drunks were hanging around all over the place, including a few guards here and there. Oliver sighed as he returned to the castle in the same clothes he had stashed that morning. The archer's uniform was returned to the box he smuggled it in. He returned to his room before he went to go talk to his father. His father was sitting in the dining hall with his mother and his younger sister, Thea.

They were discussing the jousting tournament that was taking place tomorrow. Oliver sat down across the table from his parents and to the right of Thea. Thea smiled at him when he sat down but, his father looked less than pleased.

"Son, it is dangerous for us to be outside the palace walls without a guard, you should've taken Diggle with you," The King said.

"I know father and I'm sorry but, I needed a day to clear my head at a pub after learning about the crisis, I won't do it again," He said.

"Okay, you just gave us a scare that's all," His mother said. Oliver nodded and asked for some food. A plate of steaming pork and vegetables was placed in front of him with a chalice of wine as well. The meal was very nice after a day in a dirty pub. He listened as his family continued to talk about the tournament.

"Some of our finest knights will be competing and Oliver, Thomas will be there so I'm sure the two of you will have plenty of fun together," His mother said.

"Of course, what time will the tournament be taking place?" Oliver asked.

"The jousting will start at mid-day and that is also when Thomas's family will be arriving," His father said.

"Oh I love the joust, it's always so much fun to watch, I hope we will win of course," Thea said.

"Of course we will, we have the best Knights in the land," His father said. Oliver remembered seeing the drunk guards today and wondered how that correlated with his father's current statement. He laughed to himself as he finished his meal. The tournament would be the best time to sneak into the palace dungeons. His family would be more concerned with preparing for the joust than their son's whereabouts. Oliver excused himself and went to bed wondering who Felicity and him would be talking to. Felicity had declined to share that information with him and he was widely curios. What girl would be a member of a league of assassins? There were not many girls in the Royal dungeons. Oliver turned over in his bed and fell asleep.

Oliver woke up earlier than usual because of a knocking on his door. He got up and put on a robe to go answer the door. Diggle was standing there with a note in his hand. He was dressed in his normal chainmail and armor which was odd considering there was a joust today.

"Diggle, are you not participating in the joust today?" Oliver asked.

"No, as a newly appointed knight I cannot participate yet, I have to be a knight for one full year before I can do so," Diggle said.

"Ah right, so what do you have in your hand?" Oliver asked.

"Would you mind if I came in to discuss that?" Diggle asked. Oliver was surprised at first but he motioned for Diggle to come in. Thankfully, Oliver's room wasn't that messy, the servants hadn't come to clean it yet.

"What is so secret that you have to come inside to talk to me about it?" Oliver asked as he closed the door behind Diggle.

"It's about you and a certain someone named Felicity breaking into the Royal dungeons," Diggle said. Oliver looked as shocked as he could. If Diggle did find out this information Felicity could get in big trouble and so could he.

"I don't know what you're talking about, that is something very serious that I would neve-" Oliver started.

"Don't sire, Felicity and I are old friends, I want to help you out because I couldn't stand it if she got sent to prison, and plus I'm sure you know after meeting her that she wouldn't last very long in a cell," Diggle explained. The image of Felicity in a cell chilled Oliver to the bone and he nodded.

"So who's the note from?" Oliver asked.

"Her, she wanted me to give it to you, and I also managed to get the dungeon shift today so, I plan on helping you out if you don't mind," Diggle said.

"Not at all, your help will be much appreciated, thank you," Oliver said as he took the note from Diggle.

Oliver, sorry I didn't tell you about Dig, but he has promised to help us. He'll be sneaking me to the dungeons at 10. Don't be late.

Oliver smiled as he finished reading. Then he turned to Diggle.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Oliver asked.

"If I wanted to turn you in, I could've done so the moment I received that note but, as you can see there are no guards here to arrest you," Diggle stated.

"Good point, alright then I'll see you at 10," Oliver said. Diggle nodded and walked out of Oliver's room, shutting the door behind him. Oliver moved across the room and started to get dressed. He did so and pocketed Felicity's note on his way out. He figured it was around 9:30 and he had yet to eat breakfast. He walked into the dining hall and called the chef who fixed him a meal of beef, dried fruit and hard bread. Oliver devoured the food like a lion and he started to make his way down to the Royal dungeons when he ran into someone. Oliver was about to yell until he saw who he had run into.

It was a young boy dressed in a squire's uniform. He looked very embarrassed that he had run into the Prince. Oliver recognized him as the boy from the throne room a few days ago. What was his name? Oh right, Harper.

"Sire I'm so very sorry I didn't mean to," He stammered.

"It's perfectly alright, it's Harper right?" Oliver asked.

"Yes Sire, Roy Harper, squire to Captain Lance," He said, snapping to attention. Oliver wondered how long he had been under the command of Lance. It seemed like that the moment Oliver mentioned his name Roy snapped to attention.

"And where are you headed?" Oliver asked.

"Uh, I was sent to pick up the gear for the Captain, I forgot his special armor this morning," Roy said. He seemed almost shameful of it, he looked like a lost puppy.

"Well you can tell Captain Lance that I want to have a word with him after the joust," Oliver told him.

"Yes Sire," Roy said.

"Well, you should be on your way, I'm sure the Captain doesn't like waiting," Oliver said.

"You have no idea," Oliver heard Roy mutter as he ran off. Oliver continued walking along the old palace hallway. The hall was made of solid stone and it was covered with tapestries and dimly lit by torches. Oliver walked briskly and made his way to the dungeons. He walked down the steps and he knew he was getting close when he felt chilled to the bone by the cold, damp air. He wrapped his cloak tighter around him as he reached the bottom of the steps. The dungeons weren't very well lit and Oliver grabbed his own torch as he looked left and right for any sign of Felicity or Diggle.

He heard the groans of prisoners and he pulled a hood over his head. If they realized who he was, they would start a riot. After all, his family was responsible for many things that Oliver wasn't proud of, including putting all these people in the dungeons in the first place. Finally, Oliver saw someone carrying a torch walking towards him. He tensed and was prepared to fight just in case it was a different guard. Fortunately for Oliver Diggle was holding the torch and Felicity was walking behind him. She was dressed in a man's clothing and Oliver was shocked at how beautiful she still looked.

Her hair was braided behind her and she was shivering from the cold. She was wearing a thick long sleeve cotton shirt and a thin wool vest over that. Her legs were covered with leather pants and she had small leather boots on. She looked tired and Oliver could see her breath in the air. He walked over and put his undercloak over her shoulders. She smiled at him and he felt warm and fuzzy inside. Diggle was dressed in his normal guard uniform and he gestured for them to follow him.

"Now will you tell me who we're going to see?" Oliver said.

"I just found out and I think it is best if you don't know until we get there," Diggle said. Oliver felt confused and wondered what they could be concealing from him. As they walked Felicity asked Oliver an unexpected question.

"Why an archer?" She asked.

"What?" The question had taken Oliver off guard and he didn't know how to answer or what she was asking.

"Yesterday, you came into the shop dressed as an archer, you could've been any guard, why did you pick archer?" Felicity asked.

"Yes, I'd like to know too considering it took much more effort to acquire that outfit than it would've taken to give you a normal guard's outfit," Diggle said, leading with the torch.

"I've always been good with a bow, when I took fighting lessons as a child I was always better with a bow than I was with a sword," Oliver replied. Felicity seemed satisfied with the answer as they continued to cut through the dark of the dungeons. Finally they halted in front of a cell door. There were no groans coming from this cell and no hands sticking out trying to grab them. Felicity took a deep breath and motioned for Diggle to open the door. Diggle himself looked worried as he took the keys from his belt and opened the cell door. The room was small, about six by six feet and there was a single torch on the wall lighting it. The occupant of the cell was asleep against the back wall. Oliver saw blonde hair and a physically flawless figure and he swallowed hard. Diggle shut the door behind them. As soon as the door slammed shut the girl jumped to attention. She immediately pinned Oliver to the wall with a knife at his neck.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Oliver Queen, did you come down here to have sex or did you come down here to get me killed?" The girl said.

"Neither, Sara." He replied. She hissed at the sound of her name pressed him harder against the wall.

"Sara, we just want to talk," Felicity said from the shadows. Sara turned her head to look at Felicity but she didn't let Oliver down.

"Which we will only do if you let Oliver go," Diggle stated firmly. Sara looked upset as she removed the knife from Oliver's neck and let him go.

"Where'd you get that knife, prisoners aren't sup-" Diggle started.

"If you try and take it this knife will enter your throat," Sara cut him off. Diggle nodded and backed down. Felicity was the only one in the room that didn't look intimidated. She seemed relaxed and walked right up to Sara and gave her a hug. To everyone's surprise Sara embraced her back and she looked happy to do so. Sara smiled for the first time in a while and everyone knew it. Especially Oliver.

"How've you been?" Sara asked.

"Fine, how have, well I guess I know how you've been," Felicity said.

"Haha, how your brother?" Sara asked. Oliver's ears perked up. He didn't know that Felicity had a brother.

"He's fine he's a squire now, all grown up," Felicity said in a joking tone.

"Right, Roy will never be grown up in my eyes," Sara said. Roy?! Oliver thought, how the hell was Roy related to Felicity. Oliver was shocked.

"Um, Roy I know him," Oliver said.

"Who don't you know Mr. Perfect," Sara said.

"How is he?" Felicity asked, ignoring Sara's comment.

"He's," Oliver thought about Roy's behavior this morning, "Good, he's good," He finished not wanting to tell Felicity his suspicions. Felicity smiled and Oliver had that fuzzy feeling again. He smiled back and Sara was looking back and forth between them. Her face settled on a serious expression. She smirked but, didn't say anything.

"So I assume you're here about the league?" Sara said.

"Yes, unfortunately there is dire need for information on anything you have about the league," Said Oliver. Sara's brow furrowed and she looked upset.

"Who have they killed?" She asked.

"No one important yet, just some peasants but, we believe they will make their move on the royal family soon," Diggle clarified.

"Well, I know who the leader is but you have to make sure that he never finds out this information came from me do you understand?" Sara urged.

"Yes, now please," Felicity said.

"Wait, one more thing, you have to make sure that my family is safe, Laurel included," Sara insisted.

"They will be safe I assure you," Oliver promised.

"Good now remember that promise please," Sara said. The next thing that happened was a blur to Oliver. Suddenly Sara had a knife at Diggle's throat as she started moving out of the cell.

"Don't move Ollie," Sara said. Oliver put his hands in the air and stood back. Diggle figured a little bit but mostly complied because of the knife on his throat. Felicity stood against the wall with a small look of distaste on her face.

"What about our deal?!" Oliver yelled as Sara flung Diggle back and started to run down the hallway.

"I'm sorry Oliver, if I gave up information they'd kill me," Sara yelled back. Diggle fell on top of Felicity and Oliver slowing them down only a few seconds. Diggle and Oliver started to run down the hall quickly following Sara. She was just ahead of them until she topped and jumped off the wall doing a backflip and landed behind them. Oliver was shocked and he was even more shocked when Sara kicked Diggle on the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. Diggle slumped unconscious and Oliver started to fight Sara. He ducked her kick but she rebounded with a uppercut to his stomach. He tried to punch her but she caught it and threw it away. She swept him off his feet and punched him again.

"Sorry Ollie," Sara said as she punched him across the face and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to all of those who are reading this! I'd love to hear your comments and theories. Unfortunatly I do not own arrow but I hope you enjoy this story!**

"Oliver, please don't be dead, please, please wake up," Oliver heard a voice say in the void of unconsciousness. It was enough to drag him out and back into the real world. When he first tried to open his eyes light seared them and he shut them quickly. He opened them slowly the next time and he was able to keep them open. He was lying on a cot in an unfamiliar room.

The stone walls were lit with torches and there were several more cots all around. There was a central wooden table with a couple empty beer mugs on it and a few plates with chicken bones sitting on them. The door was closed and Felicity was sitting on the edge of his cot. He looked up at her and saw that she was concerned.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Fine, fine, have long have I been out?" He asked.

"Um, just over an hour, it's 11:45, if it was later than that Dig told me to use this, I'm glad I didn't have to," Felicity said as she held up a bucket full of water. Oliver gulped just thinking about the cold water splashing him in the face.

"Well thank you for not doing that then, now I must get to the joust," Oliver said but, as soon as he tried to sit up he felt nausea almost got sick.

"Easy tiger, you need to rest for a minute," Felicity told him and put her hands on his shoulders and eased him back down.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"The guards' quarters, you're lying on Diggle's cot you know, he came to after Sara ran off, he tried to catch her but she was too far gone, so he helped me carry you here." She explained.

"So Sara got away huh, well how's he explaining that one?" Oliver asked.

"Lock malfunction, it happens all the time apparently, he had to leave to start getting things ready for the joust, but he told me to wake you for it if you didn't get up, I started to get worried though, not worried like lovingly worried but I mean I was concerned and I wanted you to be okay, not like I wouldn't have been okay if you weren't, I mean your the prince and I'm me and I-" Felicity started but Oliver cut her off.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm okay," He reassured her. She calmed down and replied,

"Sorry for my babble, I just never talk to royalty usually. Or ever." He laughed and felt that warm feeling once again in the pit of his stomach and then he started to recognize it. He had only felt it a few times in his life. When Thea was little and he helped her walk and learn, and when Thomas came to visit and joked around with him. Happiness. He felt happiness. But this was more than that. This was love. Oliver swallowed it back down because he was scared of it, he had never felt it like this before. His parents were mostly cold and he didn't love them passionately, he loved Thea a lot but that was different also. This was not family or friend love. He looked at the time and saw that he had to leave.

"I'm feeling better now and I must leave to get to the joust before my family gets suspicious," Oliver insisted.

"Of course, here at least let me walk you there, just to make sure you don't fall over," Felicity said. Oliver smiled and nodded, when her hands touched his arm the skin tingled with same fuzzy feeling.

They walked out of the room and into the familiar walls of the castle. Oliver walked in front of Felicity just enough to protect her from being seen. If he stumbled into somebody he wouldn't want rumors of Felicity being his new girl to spread about the kingdom. She walked with him all the way to the edge of the castle where he traveled to the stables and started to hitch up his horse.

"Thank you for walking me but, I assure you I can ride there fine," He said.

"Okay, then I'll see you some time later then," Felicity said uncertainty.

"Yes, probably very soon, I'll find out through word of mouth anything I can about these assassins, then we'll meet and figure something out," He told her.

"Sounds good, have a good rioust, I mean, ride or joust have a good both," Felicity said and Oliver smiled as he mounted his steed. He clicked his heels and the horse took off out of the stables. Riding was one of the things Oliver had loved as a chilled and he still loved it now. The wind in his face, the trees passing by, the sound of the horse's hooves against the ground seemed to calm him as he was absorbed by a world without stress. He arrived at the joust with only a few minutes to spare and he quickly handed the reigns to a nearby stable boy and jogged into the joust ring.

The joust smelled like roast pig and sounded like rivets being closed up and horses rearing. Oliver dashed into stands and made his way to the royal box. The knight outside was Diggle who nodded to Oliver as he opened the door for him.

"Ah, the famous Oliver Queen," Said a familiar voice.

"Thomas!" Said Oliver with a smile and he embraced his best friend.

"Thought you would never show, huh big bro," Said Thea from behind him and Olvier gave her a hug too.

"Good day Oliver, nice to see you again," Said Thomas' father, Malcom Merlyn.

"Always a pleasure King Malcom," Oliver said with a firm hand shake.

"Sit down son the joust is about to start," King Robert said. Oliver nodded and took his seat. To the right of him was Thomas and to the right of Thomas was King Malcom. Next to Malcom were Oliver's parents and then on the left of Oliver sat Thea, closest to the box door. The joust stands were packed full of the upper class, the middle class and even some peasants sat in the dirt around the edges of the stands waiting to hear from word of mouth the outcomes of the matches. The first match was captain Lance against Frank Bertinelli, a knight from the Merlyn kingdom.

"Robert, do you think your knight can beat our kingdom's reigning champion?" Malcom teased.

"Yes, I do believe our Captain, can beat your amateur," Said King Robert. Malcom laughed but he also smirked with some self confidence. The announcer stood on a tower at one end of the joust and yelled into a cone.

"Ladies and noblemen! Welcome to the joust, today we have the pleasure of the Merlyns visiting, King Malcom and Prince Thomas!" A cheer rose up from the crowd and the Merlyns waved and Oliver chuckled at Thomas' smile.

"Our first match is Captain Lance, champion of the Queens, against knight Bertinelli, champion of the Merlyns," The announcer said and sat down. The Knights mounted their horses and the squires handed them their helmets and poles. Lance barked something at Roy and Roy squirmed and ran off. Oliver made a mental note to remember his need to talk to the captain.

The Knights faced each other, and put on their helmets and waited for the sound of the bell. The announcer stood up and the tension of the crowd leaped to the kind you could cut with a knife. However as the announcer stood to ring the bell he fell. He toppled out of the tower and fell straight on his face. There was an arrow sticking out of his back. The whole arena broke out into chaos as others started to fall. Peasants fell, noblemen fell, ladies in skirts. Arrows fell from the sky like rain. Oliver snapped himself out of his daze and ran towards the door, yanking it open.

Diggle ran in just in time, two cloaked assassins entered the Royal box and started to attempt to kill Malcom. Malcom however threw his cape in front of the sword and blocked it. Diggle rammed the assassin and he fell out of the box. Another assassin entered the box and made a move towards Thea.

"No!" Oliver exclaimed and jumped onto the assassin's back while punching him in the head. Queen Moria grabbed Thea and ran and Oliver tried to follow but the assassin he had grabbed yanked on the back of his vest and pulled him back. Malcom and Robert were engaged with fighting an assassin and Thomas was trying to punch the assassin that had Oliver. Diggle shoved Thomas backward and yanked the man off of Oliver. Thomas turned and punched the assassin in the face but there was another one behind him.

Oliver turned around and Thomas was on his knees with a sword through his chest. Oliver turned the other way and saw King Robert with an arrow through his head, falling to the ground. Malcom kicked the other assassin and Diggle grabbed him and ran. Oliver turned to his best friend as he smiled for the last time and fell to the ground of the box. Oliver held his dying friend in his arms.

"Ollie, tell Laurel I love her...and I love you too," Thomas said. Malcom entered at the protest of Diggle and kneeled down next to Thomas. Oliver had never seen Malcom cry before but his whole face was wet with tears at the sight of his son. Oliver moved away from Thomas and knelt next to his father. King Robert had blood running out of his mouth all the way down his chest and his hands were shaking. Oliver grabbed his father's right hand and wept while he died.

"I love you son, but you have to survive this, you and Thea have to survive this," His father commanded and Oliver nodded slowly, unsure of what his father meant.

Meanwhile, Diggle had run after Queen Moria and Thea and had tried to ensure their safe return. Oliver and King Malcom were weeping, Thomas and King Robert were dying but, neither of the Queen ladies knew about any of these events yet.

They were running through the joust with Diggle close behind, swinging a sword at any assassin that came too close. However while he was fighting off one that was trying to kill the Queen, another assassin snuck up behind Thea. Thea was not aware of this but turned around saw the man but once she tried to scream he shoved a rag in her face and dragged her behind the bleachers. She struggled fairly hard and another assassin came to help. He pulled out a new rag and smothered her face with it. Thea caught a scent of something rather sweet at first then more sour and rotten. She tried to pry it away from her face but to no avail. Unknown to the rest of her family she passed out and was dragged away but the two unknown assassins.


	4. Chapter 4

Oliver sat down on the now empty bleachers about an hour after the great commotion. His father and best friend had just died in front of him and he didn't want to be with his mother when she got the news. He was looking out onto the field when he heard something behind him. He jumped up and defend himself but let his guard down when he saw Diggle approaching him. He sat back down and rested his head on his hands.

"You know this is a pretty interesting empty field but I thought you might want to be somewhere else, like comforting your mother," Diggle said.

"She doesn't want my comfort and I don't know if you noticed but I'm sort of a loner type, unless it's a girl I guess," Oliver replied.

"About that, what is going on with you and Felicity?" Diggle asked.

"What do you mean?" Oliver replied, surprised by the question.

"I know you and girls Oliver, all the Knights talk about what happened to you and Sara but you are different around Felicity and she's different around you too," Diggle told him. Oliver grimaced at the mention of Sara but he brightened at the mention of Felicity.

"I don't know what you mean," Oliver replied, although he did very much know what Diggle meant.

"Okay then I was sent to bring you back to the castle, and I wasn't sent to tell you this but you deserve to know that no one has seen any sign of Thea, dead or alive," Diggle said. Oliver immediately stood up and headed toward the castle while Diggle jogged after him to keep up. Oliver burst into the throne room. King Malcom, Queen Moria, and most of the guard were standing there discussing options.

"Why was I not informed that Thea was missing?" Oliver barked at the crowd. The entire room fell silent. Captain Lance was the first to regain his ability to speak.

"We didn't think it was important, the princess is probably grieving in solitude," He said.

"My sister hasn't been seen since a major attack on our kingdom, an attack on the royal family, if no one has seen her then how would she know of the deaths that occurred today," Oliver pointed out. Captain Lance swallowed and replied shakily,

"She could've seen the bodies and taken off irresponsibly." Oliver's eyes darkened and the motioned towards the hallway.

"Captain Lance, a word," He growled. Lance followed Oliver out into the hallway while the other royals resumed their previous conversation.

"Two things Captain, one do not call my sister irresponsible, you have no right. Two you are no longer in charge of the squire known as Roy Harper," Oliver stated.

"What does my squire have anything to do with this!" Captain Lance demanded.

"I've heard several reports of you mistreating him and I will not tolerate that, he will be assigned to a new knight immediately. You are lucky I am not removing you from the guard entirely." Oliver replied. Captain Lance stared at him in disbelief and started to open his mouth to protest but Oliver stood firm in his decision as he walked back into the throne room.

"Oliver, I'm sorry for your loss," Malcom said as Oliver approached them.

"Thank you, my condolences for your loss as well," Oliver replied. Malcom nodded and said,

"Oliver, you know you are now the new King of the Queen Kingdom."

"No I'm not, I'm not ready to lead, you however are, as the new king of the Queen Kingdom I give full responsibility and authority over this Kingdom to King Malcom Merlyn, my father's closest friend," Oliver said. Once again the entire throne room was silent.

"Oliver you can't be serious about this," Moria said from behind him.

"I am very serious about this matter mother, I have no desire to lead however much father may have wanted it," Oliver said. Moria still looked shocked and Malcom had taken a seat on the edge of his new throne.

"I trust my kingdom to you Malcom, I am sure you will take care of it well," Oliver said.

"You have my word on Tommy's memory that I will take care of it," King Malcom said with a nod towards Oliver. Oliver returned the nod and then headed to exit the room.

"Captain Lance you will assist the new King with anything he needs, Diggle and Roy will come with me," Oliver ordered with such authority no one could do anything but nod as he exited, Dig and Roy following close behind.

"Excuse me sire, why did you want to see me?" Roy asked.

"You are no longer under the direction and authority of Captain Lance, you have a new Knight to train with," Oliver told him.

"Who would that be?" Roy asked. He looked eager and very happy.

"Diggle here will be your new mentor," Oliver replied.

"Are you sure about that sire," Diggle said.

"Yes, I am very sure and I want you and Roy and a few very trusted others to go out and bring me Sara Lance," Oliver ordered.

"Yes sire, I will get right on that, what about you?" Diggle asked.

"I've got to go see an old friend," Oliver replied and he walked out of the castle and onto the lawn where the Knights trained. Diggle and Roy went to the Knight's quarters to round up a search party while Oliver approached a barn where the Knights and squires trained.

Inside there was a flurry of activity. A single man stood in the center of the barn and Knights and squires were carving at him from all angles. There were about twelve men charging him but the center man came out on top every time. He bashed one squire's head with one knee and kicked an approaching knight with his other leg from behind. He threw them both aside and took on a new knight that had a sword. The man parried it with a broom handle and kicked the knight in the chest. He took down a few more and then he saw Oliver leaning against the barn door and smiled.

"Sorry boys I'm done for the day, better luck next time," The man said as he walked towards Oliver. The Knights collected their weapons and walked out of the barn with their squires following close behind. They each acknowledged Oliver with a small nod and one of them spit some blood on the ground after exiting and then nodded. Oliver smiled and patted the squire on the back as he hastily ran off to tend to his mouth. If Oliver didn't know the man in the barn he might've been afraid to approach. But, he was very comfortable with the man in front of him and he walked right in.

"Hello Slade,"Oliver greeted the man as they shook hands.

"Oliver, I haven't seen you around here in a while, not since you were a mere boy," Slade said. Oliver smiled and replied,

"Yes, my father made me take those stupid fighting lessons."

"Aye but they paid off didn't they, and I'm very sorry to hear about your father, he was a good man," Slade said.

"That he was, I'm here because I'm in need of your assistance," Oliver said.

"What can I offer you?" Slade said.

"Training, in hand to hand and the bow and arrow," Oliver replied.

"Why would you need that, you're the prince," Slade replied.

"Let's just say it's for personal reasons," Oliver said.

"Is it a girl? The last one you were with was quite feisty, that Sara Lance, I really liked her," Slade said.

"No Slade and speaking of which if you've seen her would you let me know," Oliver said.

"She hasn't been around here, but I'm assuming that's because she's in the palace dungeons," Slade remarked sneaking a look at Oliver. Oliver looked down at his feet.

"Oh you're in so much trouble boy, you went down there didn't you and she escaped, does the royal family know?" Slade asked.

"They...no they think it was a lock malfunction and they don't care that much," Oliver replied.

"So is this about getting her back or is this about something more than that?" Slade asked.

"Something like that," Oliver replied. Slade smiled and took off his training armor, setting it on a bench he turned to Oliver with his fists up.

"Well then boy, you asked for my help let's have it,"Slade said.

Thea awoke in complete darkness. It was cold and her wrists ankles were secured to a chair with shackles. She was still wearing what she had been wearing at the joust and guessed she couldn't have been out for too long. The joust. The assassins, the kidnapping. All of these memories flooded Thea's mind with the upmost annoyance. She tried to shut them out but they just kept coming. She thought about her family and wondered if they were okay. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness she started to observe her surroundings.

She had to be somewhere underground since the air was thick and damp. The room she was in was small only about the size of a small bedroom and it had a single door that was located in front of her. The door was made of iron and the stone walls of the cell dripped with condensation. Suddenly footsteps could be heard from outside the door. Thea considered pretending to be asleep but instead she wanted to know more about where she was and her captors.

The door swung open and three people entered. Two of them were dressed in identical uniforms and wore swords on their belts like soldiers. However the third was dressed more elegantly and carried a bow on their back. All of their outfits were completely black and they were strikingly similar to the assassins that had originally kidnapped her. The outfits of her captors concealed every inch of skin and it was impossible to tell the gender, race, or even eye color from these obscure outfits.

"Who are you?!" Thea demanded.

"You think I'm going to tell you that?" Replied the leader of the trio.

"Well what do you need me for?" Thea asked, desperately looking for a sliver of information.

"Well let's see the princess of one of the mostly wealthiest kingdoms on earth, why could I possibly want you?" The leader said. "There are just so many possibilities, torture for information, hold for ransom, kill to make a statement," Thea began to squirm in her seat.

"Oh relax, I need you alive...for now,"

"Why don't you show yourself you coward!" Thea yelled just as the trio was about to leave.

"No harm in a little fun I guess, I am the boss." Then the leader took of their mask. Thea stopped breathing for a minute as she took in who was standing before her. The leader then backhanded her across the face, sending her back into unconscious as the guards and the leader exited the room. They left Thea to marvel in her discovery alone.


End file.
